NATIONAL SECURITY PERSONNEL SYSTEM TALKS ARE AN INSULT SAYS FIRE FIGHTERS PRESIDENT

AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department and three other national unions withdraw from Department of Defense’s bogus “meet and confer” process

WASHINGTON, DC – The General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO/CLC, Harold Schaitberger, issued this statement today regarding the union’s withdrawal from talks over the massive changes in the National Security Personnel System being proposed by the Department of Defense:

“The Department of Defense has told Congress that it needs to change the provisions of the Personnel System in the name of national security. What we have in fact been witness to, however, is an outright attack launched by DoD on its workers.

“Fire fighters are true patriots. We have a clear stake and strong belief in the protection of our great country. If lives can be saved and our country can be safer by making some adjustments to the National Security Personnel System, we will assist the DoD in making the necessary changes. In fact, the union coalition has provided proposals to DoD that can only be seen as fair and equitable, only to have them rebuked by DoD and the administration.

“In place of the current regulations, the DoD is proposing the drastic elimination of employee rights. They have gone far beyond what is necessary in the name of national security, and have begun systematically destroying what this country stands for, and they’re using national security as an excuse to do it.

“DoD is not sincere in its efforts to work with federal employee representatives to develop a new system that better protects our country. If it were, DoD would have followed the law rather than embarking on the unlawful course that has been chosen. DoD’s actions are illegal and we will fight them using every legal avenue available to us.

“It’s a sad day in America when many of these federal employees who are serving in Iraq at our country’s time of need, shedding their blood overseas in the service of our country and to protect our freedoms, will be returning to a job in which their rights have been taken away. I can’t think of anything more un-American than the current actions taken by DoD officials during this process.”

The AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the National Federation of Federal Employees/IAM District 1 (NFFE/IAM) and National Association of Government Employees (NAGE/SEIU) are among the other labor organizations that have withdrawn from the meet and confer process.

The IAFF is among 10 labor unions representing 300,000 civilian employees of the Department of Defense that filed a federal lawsuit against Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Feb. 23 for refusing to negotiate changes in its labor management system. The lawsuit maintains that while the DoD has the right to establish changes in the department’s labor relations systems, by law those changes must be done in collaboration with employees.

The IAFF, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 267,000 professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More than 2,900 affiliates protect nearly 6,000 communities in Canada and in every state in the U.S. Visit us @ www.iaff.org .

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